The Legend Continues
by CalagrianKnight
Summary: This is a simple compilation of oneshots from the Legend of Korra universe. The oneshots can be anything ranging from the regular to the ridiculous. Be it shipping or not shipping, anything goes in this series of oneshots. Rated M for future chapters and use of blood. Enjoy.
1. Rest, Relapse, and Relaxation

**Rest, Relapse, and Relaxation**

* * *

The sunlight shined bright in the clear cloudless sky as both Korra and Asami finally arrived to Ember Island after a long boat ride, the two of them finally ready to settle down and relax. This was the two of them's first vacation in a long time as Asami had always been so busy managing Future Industries, and Korra had been occupied with various duties as the Avatar, so the both of them were more than ready to finally enjoy some time off to spend leisurely with themselves. Asami smiled happily as the bright midday sun shone down upon her and Korra, Korra of whom was smiling as well, but less so than her partner. Asami soon closed her eyes and took in a deep breathe, taking in the fresh beach air as a gentle ocean breeze blew in and greeted the young couple.

"Ah, finally. I thought that boat ride would never end. It's good to finally be able to sit by the water and relax for once," Asami rejoiced. "Wouldn't you think so, Korra?" As Asami turned her head to see her girlfriend's face as she answered her inquiry, she noticed Korra seemed to be a bit distracted, looking at the beach and staring off into space. "Korra?" Asami repeated, this time getting the attention of her dark skinned partner, of whom simply smiled and nodded in response. Slightly confused, Asami raises an eyebrow at her lover's response to the question she had asked, but rather than ask about it, Asami merely shrugged it off and continued smiling as the two of them went off to the closest hotel to put away their things and begin their vacation.

* * *

The beach, while not vacant, was still rather free from the large crowds of people that usually come to the beach during the summer months. This was good for both Korra and Asami as they arrived there, greeted pleasantly by the sounds of the waves on the water, the blow of the breeze in their hair, and the warmth of the sand beneath their feet. The two lovers began to scan the beach for the perfect spot to set up their towels and umbrella, quickly finding their preferred spot in the sand due to the surprising lack of tourists on the beach. Asami carefully puts down her share of their gear and gets down on her knees to spread her towel evenly and comfortably on the sand.

"Hey Korra, could you help me set up the-" Asami began before hearing an impact in the sand as Korra's share of their gear is simply dropped to the ground after she set up her towel. Once the gear was down in the sand haphazardly, Korra ran off to enjoy the time on the beach "Wait, Korra!" Asami cried out in vain as her girlfriend was already too far away to hear her plea. As soon as Asami realized this, she simply sighed and looked down in defeat. "Great, left alone with the rest of the set up," Asami complained under her breath as she reluctantly dealt with her girlfriend's negligence.

After a while, Korra returned to the spot she and Asami picked out to set up their gear, finding Asami laying on her towel relaxing under the beach umbrella, sunglasses covering her lovely peridot eyes. Korra smiled at this, laying down on her own towel next to Asami's, Asami of whom took little to no notice of her beloved's return. Korra frowned a little bit and nudged Asami to get her attention, resulting in Asami shifting from her position and turning her head to see Korra lain there beside her, eliciting a sincere smile from her.

"There you are, Korra, I was wondering where you ended up," Asami stated, rolling over to her side to get a more comfortable view of her girlfriend. "You know, I was kind of mad that you just left so suddenly and left me with all the set up work…but it's fine now. We're here, everything's together, and we finally have some time to relax with each other." Asami smiled as she carefully leans over to kiss Korra, planting a peck on her lips, only to be greeted by grainy particles coating her girlfriend's lips. This causes Asami to pull back and begin spitting and cleaning off her own lips of the particles. "Sand? Ugh, why the hell are your lips covered in sand?" she asked as she continued spitting the sand off her own lips. "I understand it's the beach and sand gets everywhere, but still, gross."

* * *

Their beach gear all packed up, both Korra and Asami hit the souvenir stand to pick up some miscellaneous knick-knacks and keepsakes to commemorate their vacation together on Ember Island. As the two of them arrived at the stand, Asami began looking around at the various tchotchkes available for sale, meanwhile Korra's eyes seemed to wander away from the stand, and more over to the beach they had just left instead of finding out what sort of souvenir she wanted from the beachside stand.

"So Korra, what kind of souvenirs do you think we should-" Asami started asking, only to see Korra running off towards the beach once again. Asami reached out a hand to try catching her, but to no avail as once again the Avatar was out of reach, eliciting yet another sigh and disgruntled frown from Asami's mouth.

Soon Asami shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. "I love Korra, I love Korra," Asami said to herself on repeat to prevent herself from making a rash decision. Her repeated words quickly calmed her down as she breathed in a breath of relief and exhaled to release the frustration. Once fully calmed, Asami looks up and smiles at the vendor standing behind the counter of the souvenir stand.

"Sorry about that," she remarked. "I'll take two of the shell necklaces, a conch shell for the mantel back home, a set of those pearl earrings, a sand globe, and one of those turtle crab keychains for Mako."

* * *

Back at the hotel room later that night, Asami was sat at the bedside, brushing her long raven black hair in preparation to settle down for the night along with Korra. The black haired beauty smiled as she ran the hairbrush through her lovely locks, gazing over to the variety of knick-knacks she had purchased from the beach vendor earlier in the day. It took nearly no time at all for Asami to finish with her hair before putting down her brush and getting up to use the restroom. Once she gets the the restroom door, she grips the knob and tries turning it to gain entry, only to find that the door was locked from the inside.

"Oh god dammit," Asami grunted as she fidgeted with the doorknob. Soon, she placed her head against the wooden bathroom door to listen in on what was happening, hearing the sounds of running sink water and the grunts and whines of her girlfriend, Korra. Asami huffed in displeasure as she knocked on the door loudly to get Korra's attention. "Korra, I know you're in there!" she exclaimed with vigor. "First you abandon me at the beach and force me to deal with the set up on the beach this morning, then you run off at the souvenir stand without a moment's notice, all the while you haven't even said a word to me or anyone this entire trip!" Soon, Asami grabs one of her Future Industries business cards from her bag and uses it to unlock the bathroom door to gain access. "There had better be a good explanation for why you-"

Asami had to take a moment to pause her words at the horror of what she had just burst in on. There stood Korra in front of the bathroom sink, shivering in pain as many drops of crimson blood drizzled down from her mouth into the sink below. Grains of sand from the beach were scattered about the base of the sink, most of the particles coated in Korra's own blood as well. There were signs that Korra had attempted to use some of the hotel's provided mouthwash to clean out her mouth out from all the blood and sand, only to be immediately spat back out on the mirror, a lot of the blue liquid already trickled down into the sink and mixed with the blood to create a sickening violet color as it swirled down into the drain. Asami covered her mouth in shock and horror at this sight, tears welling up in her eyes as she witnessed the one she loved in agonizing pain. After a few seconds, Asami grabbed Korra in her embrace to help comfort her and so she can help lead her out of the restroom to allow her sit and recover from her apparent injuries. Once out of the bathroom, Asami sits Korra at the bedside, sitting right beside her to help take care of her. As she looked over Korra quickly, she saw some sand still on her lips

"You've been eating sand?" Asami asked, trembling herself, feeling sympathy pains from seeing Korra in such misery. "Is that where you went at the beach earlier today, and at the souvenir stand?" Asami placed a gentle hand on her beloved's cheek, only to have Korra wince in discomfort at the touch. "Sorry, hun." Asami moved her hand away from Korra's cheek and placed her fingers tenderly at the ends of her mouth. "Do you mind if I have a look to see the damage?" Korra seemed heavily hesitant to the idea of Asami perusing her mouth without even speaking a word, but after a little while Korra's already pain riddled face told Asami that she was willing to allow Asami to get a look. Asami nodded and gently gripped the ends of Korra's mouth so as to minimize her girlfriend's pain. Asami then proceeded to use her fingers to stretch open Korra's mouth to get a look at what damage had been done to the inside of it, all the while Korra instinctively resisted Asami's advances, but eventually, she got it open and got a good look at the inside.

What she saw was absolutely disgusting. The inside of Korra's mouth looked like it had been decayed and whittled down for years on end, most of it either already coated and stained with blood or getting coated by freshly bleeding blood. Her teeth had been literally sanded down from all the sand she'd been ingesting, leaving some blood vessels from inside the tooth exposed and bleeding. Her gums were still encrusted with particles of sand at the base of her now short stubs of teeth. Her tongue looked to be dry and arid like the Si Wong desert. The rest of her mouth, roof and all, looked like a mildly damp Overall, it was a nasty sight to behold. The longer Korra had her mouth held open, the more pain she felt as the open air hurt her teeth and gums like needles, more and more tears welling up in her eyes and flowing down as she worked her hardest to stifle the screams of anguish she would normally be letting off.

"Oh god, that's why you haven't been talking. It must be torture to even open your mouth right now," Asami apologized as she shut Korra's mouth slowly and delicately. "Korra, what caused this? Why did you start eating sand like this?"Korra looked away, tears still flowing from her tear ducts. "Oh…so I take it that you don't want to talk about it right now…I understand, you must be in so much pain still." Asami, rather than prod further by asking question after question, Asami instead held Korra in her arms, crying alongside Korra out of sympathy and fear for the wellbeing of her beloved. Korra shakily returned the loving embrace from Asami, crying loudly as well, her face buried in Asami's shoulder deeply.

There they sat, crying and sobbing for over an hour on end whilst wrapped in each other's loving embrace. Besides the steady sounds of sobbing and sympathetic sorrow, silence had befallen the hotel bedroom, the two lovers still united in their mental and physical suffering.

"Don't worry, Korra," Asami stammered through her overwhelming sadness. "We'll get you help. You're going to be fine." Korra only wept more tears of pain at her words, but this time, there was a tinge of relief in her miserable sobs. Asami smiled a bit as they lamented there at their bedside. After another hour or so, the sobbing had settled and the two lovers lay silently on the violet bedsheets, both of them having cried themselves to sleep for the night. Although much pain had been felt, blood had been split, and tears had been shed, this night of sleep had truly been the most relaxing and comfortable night's sleep Korra had had in what seemed like forever.

* * *

 **WRITTEN FOR THE PRO-BENDING CIRCUIT: 2165 words without author's notes. The chosen addiction for this round was eating sand. The bonus prompts were:  
(color) violet  
(location) Ember Island  
(restriction) ****Exactly one person must have dialogue  
Also used water (my element) in the plot, another bonus.  
**


	2. Who Cares

**Who Cares**

* * *

Bolin awoke peacefully as he had done about every morning. The early morning sunlight greeted him pleasantly through the window as he stretched his arms and legs, smiling happily as he turns his head over to see his loving girlfriend Opal laying next to him, still sleeping peacefully in their shared bed. Bolin planted a sweet loving kiss upon Opal's cheek as he gently got out of bed to allow her more time to sleep in. As Bolin exited the bed, he went ahead and did some more stretches to get himself ready for the day ahead. Remaining in his white tank top and faded green boxer shorts, Bolin somewhat sleepily stumbled over to he and Opal's kitchenette to prepare breakfast for the both of them, he and Opal, to enjoy together.

After a few moments, Opal began to stir awake in bed, slowly flickering her eyes open to the splendidly shining sunlight gleaming down on her through the humble window above the bed frame. Opal yawned quietly as she sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes to rid them of any remaining traces of sleepiness. Soon, as she roused from her slumber, her nose was greeted to a pleasant scent emanating from elsewhere in the apartment. Opal's already blissful mood from her awakening brightened up even more upon the exquisite essence of whatever she was smelling in the apartment's air. Opal soon swung her legs off the edge of the bed and stood up to head off to the kitchenette to see what the fragrant scent that had awoken her was.

Bolin continued cooking breakfast for two as Opal came into view, wearing nothing but her cream colored lace panties and one of Bolin's t-shirts to cover her top. She leaned against the wall as she smiled at Bolin whilst he made breakfast, Bolin smiling back as he catches sight of his lovely lady. "Good morning, my sweet," Bolin greeted sincerely.

"Morning, Bo," Opal returned blithely. "You were quite the lover last night. We should do that more often."

"Are you sure you can handle doing it more often?" Bolin asked, a smirk spread across his face. "I mean, you seemed pretty satisfied last night, or did I imagine that part?" Bolin's remark elicited an eager smirk from Opal's face as she made her way closer and closer to her boyfriend, Bolin smirked as well and turned to face her, soon holding her in his strong arms as the two of them stared deeply into each other's eyes. Bolin and Opal's eyes both were aglow with pure and utter love, Opal's for Bolin and Bolin's for Opal.

"So, got any plans for the day, or do I have you all to myself today?" Opal asked, lust dripping from every word in her sentence.

"I got plans to go visit Mako at his apartment, unless you think I should stay a while to take care of other pressing matters," Bolin answered, flicking his eyebrows upwards at the implication as Opal smiled at Bolin's last words. Bolin smirked and placed his hands down at her hips, gently squeezing her supple flesh as a deep red blush spreads across Opal's face, her smirk still present. Bolin continued to return her smirk as he leaned in closer to his lovely girlfriend, planting a soft loving kiss upon her lips, Opal earnestly repaid the kiss, her arms wrapping around Bolin's neck as they share their tender moment, During their lust-fueled moment of passion, Bolin's hands moved downwards to Opal's bare thighs, caressing them gingerly as the sensation draws out from Opal an audible squeal of happiness through their locked lips. They continued at this for what felt like hours, but was only mere moments, up until a strange odor began to fill the room other than the seductive scent of each other. Bolin lifted his head to smell the smell, looking over to the stove to see the breakfast he had been preparing with smoke rising from the pan.

"Oh no! Not the pancakes!" Bolin screamed as he immediately put down his girlfriend and rushed over to the now slightly burnt pancakes he had been cooking up for Opal and himself, scrambling in his usual goofball manner. Opal giggled as Bolin's frantic behavior in trying to rescue their breakfast, crossing her arms with a smile on her face.

"There's the Bolin I fell in love with," Opal remarked, causing Bolin to smile and rub the back of his head in slight embarrassment. Soon, Bolin managed to salvage as much of their breakfast as he could, offering his girlfriend a plate of what used to be pancakes. Opal smirked and happily accepted her loving boyfriend's offering, heading back to their room to enjoy what she'd been given. Bolin smiled as she walked away, enjoying watching Opal leave.

Much later in the day, Bolin walked alone through the streets of Republic City, the streets he had called home for as long as he could remember. He smiled as satomobiles rolled on by and other pedestrians walked past, adding some life and color to an otherwise grey cityscape. It wasn't a long walk through the bustling city streets until Bolin finally arrived at his desired destination, Mako's apartment building. Bolin quickly entered the complex and climbed up the multiple flights of stairs to get to the top floor on which his firebending brother is housed. Soon Bolin got to the door of Mako's apartment and smiled as he eagerly knocked the door.

"Hey bro, it's Bolin, let me in," Bolin called out so his brother could hear his plea. Bolin waited patiently for his brother to answer the door, but no answer came, not even a sound from inside the apartment either. Bolin raised an eyebrow in confusion at the lack of any and all noises from the interior of his brother's apartment. "Mako, you in there?" Bolin asked, his voice still loud enough for Mako to hear. Still confused as to why there was no noise, he placed his ear against the wall to try and hear more clearly what was going on inside. He heard the faint sound of a song from behind the door, and upon listening longer, Bolin could make the song out to be one that he and Mako both enjoyed listening to. "Hey Mako, if this is a prank, you can tell me, okay bro?" Bolin stated as he tried wiggling the doorknob, only to find that the door wasn't even locked. The fact that Mako hadn't locked his front door troubled Bolin, as he had always known Mako for being cautious about intruders and home invaders.

Bolin, upon realizing the door wasn't locked, turned the doorknob and entered the house, finding most of the lights turned off, all except a light coming from the bedroom, which by the way it sounded, was also where the song Bolin was hearing came from. Bolin walked with a worried pace as he stepped into view of the bedroom doorway, only to be struck with a grievous and gruesome sight. There in the middle of the lonesome bedroom laid Mako, a gun, and a back wall splattered with crimson blood and brains from the firebender's now gashed open head. Bolin stared at the bloodied corpse of his older brother, wholly mortified at the graphic scene laid out in front of him. He wanted desperately to look away, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to look away, his eyes absorbing every detail of the ghastly setting of his brother's self inflicted demise. The longer he stared at the grizzly scene, Bolin's eyes began to well with tears, so much so that he was forced to close his eyes and let the tears fall to the floor below, sobbing heavily yet quietly to himself. Not even a few seconds later, Bolin broke out into fully fledged bawling as he wiped his eyes on his jacket sleeve before running out of the apartment building, overcome with grief over the loss of his only sibling. Blindly and without thinking, Bolin ran and ran through the streets of Republic City, eventually running so far that he reached the portion of the city overtaken by spirit vines. Still wailing in sorrow as loud as he could, Bolin ran into the spirit forest without even thinking, accidentally tripping on a spirit vine and falling face first to the cracked pavement below. Bolin slowly lifted himself up to his knees, continuing to sob and lament over Mako's death. Buried in bereavement, Bolin sat there amongst the large green spirit vines, unaware of the spirits that began to gather around him as he grieved.

"What is wrong, human man?" One of the spirits asked Bolin, the voice calm and gentle. Bolin sniffled heavily as the tears continued to pour from his eyes, shakily opening his mouth to speak.

"M-My brother...Mako. He...he killed himself!" Bolin bawled, collapsing to the ground once again in sorrowful mourning.

"I see," the spirit commented.

"I-I just wish…that I could have stopped him…I-I want my brother back!" Bolin cried out once again, still weeping wildly.

"Interesting…as you wish then," the spirit remarked as his eyes began to glow, the light shining on Bolin and causing him to fall into a deep sleep quickly, the cries ceasing as quickly as they had begun as Bolin lost all consciousness.

Bolin awoke peacefully as he had done about every morning. The early morning sunlight greeted him pleasantly through the window as he stretched his arms and legs. In the middle of his stretching, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked over to the bedside table to check the time. Seven in the morning, the same time he had woken up the day his brother committed suicide. Confused, Bolin looked over to his side, finding Opal laying there peacefully asleep beside him, he gently nudged his girlfriend's shoulder to awaken her from her slumber. Immediately, she stirred awake.

"Hmm? Bolin, what's up?" Opal asked sleepily, curious as to why he had urged her awake.

"Opal, I need to know, what day is it today?" Bolin asked.

Opal merely turned away from her boyfriend and yawned. "What do you mean? It's Saturday." Saturday, the exact same day Bolin had just experienced. Somehow, the spirit Bolin met in the spirit wilds had sent him back in time. Bolin looked down and rubbed his face to wake himself up more before getting out of he and Opal's shared bed. Opal turned back and faced Bolin as she remained laid down under the grey covers. "Hey, where're you going off to?"

"I, um," Bolin stammered, his mind still abuzz with thoughts of his brother's imminent death. "I-I gotta go see Mako."

"Well, can't it wait until after breakfast?" Opal wondered, gently grabbing Bolin's arm in an attempt to keep him there with her.

"I wish I could, Muffin, but I just really gotta get there as soon as I can," Bolin replied, smiling, leaning over and kissing Opal as she covered her bare top with their blanket. Opal smiled, reciprocating Bolin's kiss as the blanket she held over herself to keep herself covered up slipped. Opal's face became flushed as Bolin gently ended their kiss, smirking upon catching a glimpse as Opal's bare chest, causing Opal to immediately grab the blanket once more to continue covering herself. "I'll come back as soon as I can, alright, hun?"

"Alright," Opal replied. "Hurry back."

"Will do, sweetie," Bolin affirmed as he donned his shirt and pants once again before heading out.

Soon, over at the Republic City police station, Bolin bursts in through the front door, looking around the station to see if he can spot Mako at work. "Has anybody seen Mako anywhere?"

"What, your brother?" Chief Lin Beifong commented as she entered the room from her office.

"Yes, of course, what other Mako could I be talking about?" Bolin returned brashly. Lin merely rolled her eyes at the earthbender's statement.

"He called in earlier saying he couldn't come in today," Lin explained. "Said he had something to take care of once and for all. Honestly, I could care less at this point. He's been missing work a lot as of late anyways."

"Do you know why?" Bolin asked, austere undertones prevalent in his voice.

"Why should I care? He barely does his job anyways," Lin replied, crossing her arms as she spoke.

"Chief, trust me, I think there's a reason he's not coming in, a big reason," Bolin asserted, checking the time before walking back towards the police station exit steadfastly. "Oh well. I thought he might be here, but I guess I was wrong. Whatever, I gotta get to his apartment while there's still time." Lin rolled her eyes at Bolin's apparent determination, but sighed faintly in realizing it was only because he truly cared about his brother.

"Hey, kid," Beifong called out, catching Bolin's attention as he reached the door. Bolin turned his head in listening to what the police chief had to say to him. Lin uncrossed her arms and breathed in a breath of preparation. "Make sure Mako's okay, alright? Wouldn't want to lose an officer." Bolin smiled a bit at Lin's kind words, nodding in response as he pulled open the station door and left its grounds.

Within the hour, Bolin arrived upon the entrance to Mako's apartment building. Everything around still looked the same as it had the previous time Bolin had seen it. Once more Bolin ascended the stairs, only this time, knowing of his brother's impending fate, he darted up the stairwell as quickly as he could, still holding on to the faint glimmer of hope that he might be able to stop it. With lighting speed, Bolin got up to the floor Mako lived on, frantically turning his head this way and that in a frenzy to find Mako's apartment door. Within seconds, Bolin managed to catch a glimpse of the door, finding it slightly ajar just as it was when he found it last. Bolin powerfully pushed the door open with a boom, his hands shaking still as he hastily made his way through the apartment, hurriedly barreling towards his brother's bedroom. The closer he got to the room, the louder Bolin could hear the music he had once heard the first time he had lived through this moment. Upon reaching his brother's room, Bolin swiftly placed his hand on the doorknob and gave it a quick turn before bursting right through.

"Mako, stop!" Bolin cried out, panting heavily from all the running and scrambling. Sitting as his desk with his gun in hand, Mako looked over to Bolin as he stood in the doorway, hands on his knees as he panted and huffed from his adrenaline rush catching up to him. Mako, thoroughly confused at the sheer presence of his brother in the entrance to his sleeping chamber, put down the firearm atop his desk and turned around to face Bolin directly.

"Bro, what are you doing here?" Mako asked in a half deadpan tone of voice.

"What am I doing? What the hell are _you_ doing, Mako?" Bolin interjected. "You were about to shoot yourself in the mouth with that damn gun!"

"How do you know? Actually for that matter, how did you even know I would be here doing that?" Mako wondered curiously.

"That doesn't matter! What matters to me right now is why you would even consider going through with suicide," Bolin continued. "You have so much going on for you. You have a great job at the Republic City Police Department."

"Yeah, a job of which Beifong doesn't even seem to recognize half the time," Mako explained.

"Okay, well what about your friends, huh? Korra, Asami, Opal, hell even Varrick!"

"Korra and Asami spend all their time together," Mako clarified. "The same goes with Opal and you. As for Varrick, I haven't really spent enough time around bhim to consider him a friend. Plus he's married to Zhu Li, so they have a life together now, one that doesn't need me squeezed into it."

"I'm sure someone has time for you, bro," Bolin stated.

"You'd think that, but no," Mako reiterated. "Everyone around me, from Korra, all the way down to Kai and Jinora, is caught up in their own personal lives, none of those personal lives involving me at all, so I'll choose to stay out of it, permanently."

"But Mako-"

"No buts, Bolin!" Mako snapped, instilling a sense of fear into Bolin once more from his brother's mad outburst. "Nobody even cares enough to give me the time of day, let alone make time for me, alright? Why should they even? I've been nothing but a burden and a disappointment on everyone I've come into contact with! Is that what you want to hear, Bo? Huh, is it?" Mako soon balled his hands into fists and punched the wall above his desk, his fist instinctively becoming cloaked in rich red fire as it made contact with the surface. Not only did his punch nearly go through the wall and leave a large indent of his fist, but it also scorched in the image of it and burned off a good portion of the paint surrounding the impact mark. Bolin stared at the scene as Mako soon panted out of frustration before sinking his head down, the panting quickly turning into silent sobbing.

"Nobody cares," Mako uttered amongst his whimpers. "Nobody ever cared. Korra has Asami, Asami has Korra, and everyone I know could not care any less about my miserable existence." Mako soon stumbled over to the bedroom window, using a hand to support himself on the frame as he remained slumped, his head towards the ground. "If I ended it all right now, nobody would even notice I'm gone. That's a fate worse than death already. If everybody hated me, none of this would be a problem, but the problem is that nobody even cares enough to hate me."

"Mako…" Bolin muttered, truly worried about his brother's current state of mind.

"Who would even care if I took my own life right now?" Mako asked himself, seeming to have forgotten that Bolin was in the room listening to his every word. "Thousands if not millions of people take their own lives every year anyways, so why should one more matter? Who would even care if just one more statistic is added to the whole?" Mako closed his eyes as he reached his lowest point. "Who?"

In the silence following Mako's bemoaning, Mako felt a gentle yet firm hand rest upon his shoulder, turning around and finding it out to be Bolin's hand. Bolin offered him a face of sympathy, eyes full of tears as he opened his mouth to speak.

"I do," Bolin replied sullenly. "I care, bro." Mako stared upon his brother's face, wholly shocked and surprised at Bolin's response. "Mako, we've been with each other through thick and thin, the best of times and the worst of times. Just because I have Opal now doesn't mean I care any less about you than I did way back when we lived out on the streets as destitutes. You're my brother, Mako. We're the only family we have." Bolin's tears welled up to the point that they began to flow in streams down his face, barely able to keep his composure as he obviously wanted to break down and bawl over his brother's pain and sorrow. "You're the only family I have." Bolin soon closed his own eyes and the tears sadness he had wished so dearly to be able to release all day had finally broken loose. Bolin bawled out loud, glistening mournful tears falling from his face down to the bedroom floor below. As his emotions spiraled out of control, he fell to the floor as his knees buckled under the emotional pressure he'd been building up since he witnessed Mako's bloodied corpse beforehand.

Mako stared down at his severely distraught brother in shock before kneeling down beside him, his own eyes welling with sympathetic tears. Mako quickly embraced Bolin in a tight hug before releasing his own emotional tension, tears falling from his usually stoic and expressionless face. The two brothers cried and bawled uncontrollably for what felt like hours on end: Bolin for his brother to come back to him, and Mako for ever thinking that people didn't care about him.

"I'm so sorry, Bo," Mako muttered amongst his lamentation.

"No Mako, I'm sorry," He replied, still wailing without end. "I never wanted to make you feel unloved. I never meant to make you feel like I didn't care. I'm so so sorry, Mako."

"You care now, Bolin," Mako stammered, a half smile forming on his face as he tightened his embrace around his brother. "You care now."

* * *

 **WRITTEN FOR THE PRO-BENDING CIRCUIT: 3474 words without author's notes.** ** **The bonus prompts were:  
** (color) grey  
(location) Republic City  
(song) One More Light - Linkin Park  
**


End file.
